US podcast downloads and audience per platform

US podcast downloads and audience per platform

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  • Exclusive: Podtrac has shared total downloads and audience, split by platform. Based on 1.5 billion US downloads from participating publishers measured by Podtrac during August, Apple has 61.1% of all podcast downloads; but when measured by total audience, Spotify is closing in on Apple in the country. Founder and CEO of Podtrac, Mark McCrery, told Podnews “Apple continues to provide the largest US podcast audience, podcast downloads and streams, and downloads per audience member. Spotify has become a popular podcast player in the US but with fewer monthly downloads and streams per audience member currently.”

    • Analysis The downloads data is similar to Libsyn’s reported global downloads for July (Apple 68.4%; Spotify 9.1%): but the difference between “downloads” and “audience” is clear - Apple Podcasts might still be bringing in the downloads, but Spotify appears a significant service in terms of increasing podcasting’s total audience. This data would explain the discrepancies in some research for platform popularity, which typically measures audience, rather than downloads. (Some audiences may use both apps, of course). We’d expect to see these figures shift significantly as Joe Rogan’s audience moves onto Spotify.
  • According to Libsyn’s The Feed, today is the last day to submit your podcast into Amazon Music/Audible to be there for the launch. Use your podcast host’s distribution option, or this link if your podcast host doesn’t have one. (If you wondered where Amazon makes its money, Benedict Evans has an illuminating piece today).


    Aug 27 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.
  • On August 17, we reported that Anchor was hosting pirated podcasts. Aaron Mahnke is the latest high-profile podcaster to publicly criticise the platform, after discovering a pirated copy of his new podcast American Shadows on Anchor. “Same art, same description,” he adds.

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Companies mentioned above:
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